After Accidentally Sending a Text Message to My Cold Boss - Chapter 5

No matter how Mai Suisui prepared, time continued to flow quickly, and in the blink of an eye, Monday arrived.

Early in the morning, long before the meeting was scheduled to start, Mai Suisui entered the company.

Pulling out her office chair, she sat in her designated seat and spaced out for a moment.

“Hey, what are you thinking about?”

A hand waved in front of her eyes.

Mai Suisui, who was resting her chin in her hand, blinked and looked back at Shen Qingqing standing beside her. She couldn’t help but ask in surprise, “Why are you here so early today?”

“Today is your big day, can’t I come a bit earlier?” Shen Qingqing pulled a chair over from nearby and sat down, her gaze fixed on Mai Suisui. “Besides, I was a little worried about you.”

Looking at Shen Qingqing’s serious expression, Mai Suisui felt a warmth in her heart and comforted her: “Qingqing, ‘speaking of defeat before the battle’ is a major taboo in a competition.”

Shen Qingqing was stunned.

“What’s happening today is a competition. Although the seeded player is someone else and I can’t claim much of an advantage, we aren’t completely without a chance of winning. After all, I can at least be called a dark horse, right?”

“Since I’m a dark horse, doesn’t that mean there’s hope of going all the way to the end?”

Mai Suisui lifted her head and looked at Shen Qingqing with gravity. That face, which usually seemed merely delicate, blossomed with an exceptionally bright smile today.

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingqing remained silent for a long time before letting out a low, inexplicable laugh.

“Fine, it seems I don’t need to cheer you up. Wooo, my little Suisui is finally growing up.”

“Stop it.”

Mai Suisui rolled her eyes at her.

Shen Qingqing followed her with a curve of her lips. “Alright, it’s about time. Do you have your USB drive? Check it one last time, then we should head to the front of the conference hall to report and line up.”

“I prepared it long ago. I even checked it once at home this morning.”

“Check it again. Be careful—this is an important fork in the road of your life. You can’t be too careful. If you really fail because of a momentary oversight, you’ll be crying then.”

“Tch, when have you ever seen me cry?”

“Just in case.”

The two walked side by side toward the elevator, heading together to the conference hall that served as today’s venue.

Just as they reached the entrance of the conference hall, Jin Enna quietly pulled Mai Suisui to the side.

“How is the preparation going? Do you want me to find a meeting room to check it over with you one more time?”

Mai Suisui laughed in spite of herself. “You and Qingqing really grew up together; you’re quite in sync.”

Jin Enna shook her head. “I want to tell you that something is wrong on Manager An’s side. I have a feeling he knows what General Manager Yu and you are trying to do.”

Mai Suisui froze, saying incredulously, “Only a few people know about this, can it still have leaked out?”

“It’s not necessarily a leak. After all, when I took you to see GM Yu, it was right under everyone’s noses. It’s normal for him to be more guarded. Anyway, be careful.”

As she spoke, Jin Enna looked back toward the front of them.

At the very head of the line, that slender silhouette in a black professional suit was enviably young.

Furthermore, the natural temperament and confidence radiating from her were even more captivating.

This world has never been fair. The sayings about gold spoons, silver spoons, and clay spoons are proof of that.

“Ability can be improved, but one’s background cannot be changed. Rational people understand what they should prioritize.”

A meaningful whisper entered her ears.

Jin Enna returned to her senses and turned her head to look. She couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile. “I didn’t expect you to comfort me? No, I should say, I didn’t expect you to see through what I was thinking just now.”

“I couldn’t see through it,” Mai Suisui shook her head unexpectedly. “But I could roughly guess it.”

Jin Enna was stunned, and then her eyes fixed on Mai Suisui’s profile with a slightly strange expression.

A moment later, the smile on her lips seemed to deepen. “Qingqing has made many friends since she was a child. Most of them didn’t last long, and there were only a few she truly connected with. Among so many people, the one I am most satisfied with is you.”

“With that tone, I thought you were screening for her mother.”

Without a second thought, Jin Enna gave Mai Suisui’s arm a symbolic smack.

Just as a smile appeared on Mai Suisui’s face, she suddenly noticed many people in front turning their heads to look at her with strange expressions.

“GM Yu is looking for you.”

An Yingchuan walked over, turning his body slightly to block the view of others. He said in a low voice: “I don’t understand the thoughts of you young people, but you should understand who helps you the most in the company. Think about it carefully—this is not just for us, but for yourself as well.”

Mai Suisui frowned slightly. She turned her head to look ahead. Yu Nian had also turned around and was looking at her from a distance, as if sizing her up across the space.

This was not a matter that allowed for hesitation, and Mai Suisui had no choice.

She immediately stepped past An Yingchuan and, enduring the scrutiny of many present, walked all the way to the front of the line.

“GM Yu.”

“Mai Suisui, is it?”

When she heard that clear yet slightly detached female voice say her name in a gentle tone, Mai Suisui was a bit surprised.

The next moment, she watched as this GM Yu took the initiative to reach out a hand with a beaming smile. “I looked at the company records and discovered that such an outstanding employee was hidden in the company. The fact that Group One could become this year’s best group is due to your irreplaceable role.”

As she spoke, she looked at the grim-faced An Yingchuan who had caught up. “Manager An, what do you say?”

An Yingchuan forced his expression to soften and patted Mai Suisui on the shoulder. “This is also an important reason why I wanted to take Suisui to South Korea.”

Yu Nian looked at his hand on Mai Suisui’s shoulder and nodded with a light smile.

Afterward, the line continued to move forward, and Mai Suisui, no longer the center of attention, silently retreated back into the middle of the queue.

…

“…Therefore, Manager An will be following Director Li to take up a post in South Korea after the New Year, and his position is currently vacant.”

As soon as Yu Nian’s voice fell, there was some commotion among the employees below.

Those with a chance were eager to move, and even those without were considering how to benefit from the situation.

Yu Nian didn’t mind. She looked at An Yingchuan with a smile. “Since it is the position left by Manager An, does Manager An have anyone to recommend?”

At this point, An Yingchuan was no longer polite. He nodded directly in acknowledgement. “The Sales Department has always had a ‘stabilizing force.’ It can be said that without her, our branch would not have shone so brightly at the headquarters this year.

I won’t say too many of these complimentary words—I could never say enough. I believe GM Yu, you also know who I am talking about.

I believe our company can now add more weight to Xu Ya’s responsibilities.”

As soon as An Yingchuan finished speaking, a woman stood up: “Hello, GM Yu.”

Yu Nian narrowed her eyes and nodded with a smile: “Hello.”

“I naturally trust Manager An’s recommendation, but while organizing the employee records, I accidentally discovered a pearl. Just as Manager An wants to recommend the stabilizing force in his heart, I also want the pearl in my eyes to give it a try. Mai Suisui, say hello to everyone.”

In the corner, Mai Suisui took a deep breath and bowed slightly to the surroundings: “Hello, everyone.”

An Yingchuan shook his head and laughed. “The pearl in GM Yu’s eyes—is she not also shining in mine? I remember I submitted a report to GM Yu about taking Mai Suisui to South Korea to help Director Li and me?”

Nearby, someone heard the conversation between the two and joined in cautiously.

“All employees who enter our ZS are top students graduated from famous universities, while Mai Suisui is just an ordinary undergraduate. She only got in because of the lack of manpower during the initial establishment of the branch. If we let her become a manager, perhaps people will be dissatisfied?”

“You can’t say that. Just as GM Yu said, her years in the company have already proven her ability. Her starting line was lower than others, but she still used the same amount of time to prove herself.”

“You all are biased in your perspective. I think we should…”

A group of company executives began to discuss in low voices.

These words were just for show. Those who opposed were not being pedantic; they just had different allegiances and were finding excuses.

Although the employee section could not hear the discussions of the executives, they could understand a thing or two just by observing their expressions.

In the corner, Jin Enna muttered a sentimental remark.

“Looks like the situation isn’t great. I expect Qingqing will have to think ahead about how to comfort her when we go back. That’s how companies are sometimes. It’s not that you can survive just because you work hard or have strong abilities.”

Then, after listening to the discussion for a while, a faint smile that was hard to detect appeared on Yu Nian’s exquisite face. “Manager An, let’s stop playing dumb. Regardless of everything, how about we let the two of them compete?”

“Fine.”

Unexpectedly, An Yingchuan agreed without any hesitation.

Yu Nian’s heart skipped a beat. Before she had time to think, she heard a burst of anger from below.

“What are you doing?!”

In an instant, almost everyone’s gaze shifted over.

Yu Nian turned her head in surprise to look at the employee section. In that area, two people were confronting each other. A group of people stood up to intervene. One of them was actually Shen Qingqing; her teeth were clenched, her small hands were trembling with rage, and she glared with a murderous look at the young man in front of her who wore a perfunctory, apologetic expression.

Some of the executives present frowned immediately. Someone tapped the table with a pen and asked in a deep voice: “What’s going on?”

“I just borrowed a computer to let Mai Suisui check her PPT. Xu Wenliang not only deliberately knocked the USB drive down but even stepped on it a few times!”

Shen Qingqing pointed fiercely at the young man.

Everyone looked in the direction Shen Qingqing was pointing. In the darkness, on the floor next to Mai Suisui’s seat, a small USB drive was reflecting a faint light.

Yu Nian walked over, crouched down, and picked up the USB drive to examine it.

The general shape was okay, but the outer shell was cracked. It was unclear if the internal motherboard was damaged.

She lifted her head and looked at the girl standing before her.

“Hey, I know I made a mistake, so it’s normal for you to be angry. But you can’t just slander people, right?”

Facing everyone’s gaze, Xu Wenliang quickly pulled out a flattering smile and said: “Leaders, GM Yu, please believe me. It was too dark, I really didn’t see clearly, so I accidentally stepped on it twice.”

Yu Nian ignored him and turned to ask Mai Suisui: “Is there a backup on the computer?”

Mai Suisui lowered her gaze: “I didn’t have time to leave a backup on the computer.”

“Then Shen Qingqing, right? You go find someone first to see if the files in the USB drive can be recovered.”

Shen Qingqing took the USB drive Yu Nian handed over, looked at the silent Mai Suisui with downcast eyes, and with red-rimmed eyes, gave a heavy nod and ran off.

“Since the result isn’t out yet, it’s hard for me to say. But there is one thing I want to ask you in advance.”

Yu Nian looked at Mai Suisui and asked softly: “If the USB drive is completely damaged and you cannot produce usable materials, do you still intend to continue with the upcoming assessment?”

As soon as Yu Nian asked this question, the surroundings suddenly became quiet.

There was another sentence that Yu Nian did not say aloud—

After striving in the company for several years, and even the preceding dozen years of student life being for the purpose of seizing this opportunity today, are you really going to give up because of something like this?